- What's up everyone? Welcome to your 31 Day Yoga Revolution. It's day 17 and today the practice is stillness. How's it gonna be? Let's get started. (lively orchestral music) Alright, my darling friends, let's begin in Sukhasana or a nice comfortable seat of your choice. A place where you can sit upright and feel good or begin the process. I want to acknowledge that when we hit the mat, we're not always in the mood, or maybe it was challenging to get there so just arrive with whatever you're arriving with today. Sit up nice and tall and when you're ready we'll take a deep breath in together. And a long breath out together. Begin to settle in, deep breath in. Long breath out. The power of the breath. Big inhale. Big exhale. And big airplane over my head. Okay, so allow the hands to rest gently wherever they naturally fall, a place where you can be for a couple of moments. And then, as always, decide what feels best today, palms face up or palms face down. It's an individual choice. And while we do move and adapt with the day and age, you know, 2017, what's up? I'm so modern. You know, we pay homage to the ancient yogis and the teachers and the history and the philosophy by staying connected to the breath, but truly, in my opinion, by making it individual. It's the irony. So even in the most ancient of practices it was an individual, it was a very personal story writing experience. Ooh, and now little birdies. So each time you come to your mat you have a chance to really be present with what's going on and the act of just deciding where your hands are is part of that. Alright, so we'll deepen the breath and also today, as a little way of paying tribute to the history of yoga and the roots, the ancestry of yoga, we're going to play with stillness, so we understand or maybe we'll come to understand that the asana branch of yoga is just one of many branches of this beautiful tree of yoga. Read the book if you haven't already, it was the first Yoga with Adriene Day Book Club book and it keeps coming back, 'cause it's so good. But anyway, working today on stillness. So we're still gonna move, actually, but we're going to come up to things that are, we're gonna come up to things, that's really great, we're gonna come up into moments that as us to stay, stay awhile. ♫ Stay awhile ♫ Let me hold you ♫ Stay awhile Okay, so especially if you're new to the practice, there might be moments where you're like, "Oh, screw this," see if you can use your breath and let's stick together and it's not a super long practice today either, to really stay present. Are you the type of person who runs away when you feel discomfort or can you lean in, feel it out, understand what's going on and then play it out, play it forward with consciousness. Alright, so by now, hopefully you've found an upright position to be in. You've taken at least a couple deep breaths and you've said yes to today's practice. (chuckles) Close your eyes now. And let's drop in. You don't have to do anything. Just be. Again, closing the eyes and just sitting for a moment. Notice the sounds around you. Notice where you might be holding a little tension in the body. And then after you take a moment to notice where the body is at, notice the thoughts that come up, notice where you're at in your mind. And then after you've acknowledged that, let's move to the heart space, just notice how you're feeling emotionally today, no need to overanalyze, just notice the feeling. (breathing in) And after you've taken a moment to acknowledge and check in with the physical body, the mental space and the emotional space, sit up a little taller, take a deep breath in, and whatever this means to you, just take a moment to check in with your spiritual body, your spiritual space, whatever that is. Deep breath in, exhale to let all that go. Open your eyes, alternate nostril breathing. So we're gonna take the thumb and the pinky finger, you can also use the thumb and the index finger. If you're new to this, maybe do thumb and index finger, otherwise, thumb and pinkie, you can also use the ring finger, you can also use any damn finger that you want, as far as I'm concerned. But we'll sit up nice and tall and take the thumb to the right nostril. Keep upright in the spine, as you inhale, breathe in through the left nostril. (breathing in) Pause at the top, retain the breath, seal the left nostril with your other finger of choice, I'm using the pinky, and then exhale out through the right nostril. Now, don't panic, I'm gonna walk you through, big inhale in through the right nostril. Pause, retain the breath at the top. And then we move to the other nostril by sealing the right nostril and exhaling out through the left. Big breath in through the left. Pause, seal, switch, exhale out through the right. (breathing out) Inhale in through the right. (breathing in) Pause, seal, and switch, exhale out through the left. (breathing out) Inhale in through the left. (breathing in) Pause, seal, and switch, exhale out through the right. (breathing out) Inhale in through the right. Pause, seal, and switch, exhale out through the left, stick with me, my friends. Inhale in through the left. (breathing in) Pause, seal, switch, exhale out through the right. (breathing out) Release the hand, big breath in through both nostrils. (breathing in) Exhale out through both nostrils, relax your shoulders. Great, close your eyes, be still. Listen to the sound of your breath. (breathing in) Wonderful, soft and easy, open your eyes. We're gonna come to all fours nice and slow. Come to tabletop position. Find length through the spine. Press away from your yoga mat, curl the toes under, light a fire in your belly, a little agni in your core as you lift the knees, let them hover, neck nice and long for five, breathe deep, four, three, tug the shoulders away from the ears, two, draw the navel up towards the spine, and one, slowly onto the tops of the feet. Inhale, chest, stretch through the belly. And exhale, rounding through the spine. (breathing out) Inhale, open the belly. Press into the tops of the feet. And exhale, rounding through. Inhale to tabletop, make sure the knees are right underneath the hip points here, and we're gonna inhale, extend the right leg out long, turn the right toes down, and then slowly, when you're ready, on your next breath in, lift the left fingertips forward. Spinal balance, hug everything in, so we're creating a little strength today still, lift your heart up between your shoulder blades, lift the right inner thigh, turn the pinkie toe down. One more breath, you got it. And then exhale, release, left toes go out, find length, crown of the head is still reaching forward, when you're ready, lift that leg up and then inhale, reach the right fingertips forward, plug your shoulder in, light up that fire, big breaths here. (breathing in) One more inhale, find a buoyancy, lift with the inhale and then exhale back to tabletop position. Make your way to Downward Facing Dog, feel free to walk your dog out a little bit here to start, checking with your body, continuing with that smooth, calming breath. (breathing out) When you're ready, come to a place of stillness here. Allow the inner thighs to rotate in, upper arm bones to rotate out. Press into all of your fingertips and breathe like you love yourself here. Find stillness, don't worry about the heels coming to the ground, just be in the posture, let it unfold. Rooting down through that index finger and thumb. (breathing in and out) See if you can drop the fidgeting, clear the mental space, one more breath, in and out. (breathing in and out) Awesome, slowly release knees to the ground, inhale, send the right leg out long. And then exhale, bring the right leg all the way up and in and we're actually gonna swing the left toes towards the right here and come to a little half warrior. So the right hamstring's parallel, right thigh bone parallel to the earth. If you need a little padding for the knee here, you can do that, and then when you're ready, you're gonna send the right fingertips out long forward, upper arm bone rotating down and then left fingertips back. And really reach and see if you can go beyond the physical body, so we're kind of breaking down from the vinyasa today. See if we can really go beyond the physical body, beyond the muscles and bones and send the energy out way beyond the fingertips. And see if you can create length in this left hip crease by lengthening the tailbone down, action points we've been doing, hugging the lower ribs in, and finding that containment through the front, that support. And then I love working in half warriors because you can really play with your alignment and the action, nice and low to the ground. Wow, just had deja vu, like I dreamt of this exact moment, weird. You're like, "No, you just did this last year, "30 days of yoga," but now I felt it. So play here and your arms are going to get tired, so that is the point today, see if we can stay here. Trust me, even though I have bad jokes here, trust me, lengthen tailbone down, lift up even more, see if you can press away from your yoga mat, so you're pressing into your feet. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. Stacking up all through these beautiful energy centers. If you're familiar with the nadis, or the, not naughtys, nadi, the energy meridians of the body, it's what the yogis call it. We come into this place of stillness to activate those energy meridians. Pull the pinkies back, one more breath cycle in and out, here you got this. Hold on to your hats. (breathing in) Wonderful, then exhale, release. (sighs) Right elbow come to the right thigh and this isn't gonna be a huge move, just a subtle move as you send the left fingertips forward, up with the shoulder in and up and back. Keep the tailbone lengthening down, so you don't wanna arch your back here but keep the pelvis and keep the tailbone lengthening down, pull the right hip crease back. Inhale in, pull the left thumb back and then exhale, stay here, breathe. (breathing in) Inhale, think Upward Facing Dog, one more breath. And then exhale, draw the navel into the spine, release the fingertips to the earth and you're gonna walk your fingers, your hands all the way to the back edge of your mat. Turn the right toes in, as if you were standing in warrior, and then inhale, draw the right fingertips down and up, opposite direction, a little gate variation here. And then feel this connect from the outer edge of your right foot, all the way through your right fingertips, breathe here, left wrist under left shoulder. So there's variations you can play with here too, of course, but see if you can come into a place where you can allow the breath to move you. Drop fidgeting. (breathing in and out) Maintain awareness in the neck. Then on an exhale draw it in, use the fingertips to walk it all the way back to the front, lunge, left toes come back in alignment, low lunge, inhale, open the chest, exhale to all fours. Second side, inhale, extend the left toes out long, exhale, step it all the way up. Swing the right toes around, and then when you're ready, Warrior II, or half warrior, so strong in the legs. So I'm pulling back in that left thighbone, left hip crease. Sending the fingertips out long, long, long, lengthening tailbone down. And then see if you can go beyond the fingertips here. Reach beyond whatever's in front of you, reach beyond whatever's behind you, pull the pinkies back. And then again, lengthen tailbone down so you can feel that opening, that length through the right hip crease. Soften the skin of the face, can you bring a calmness, a peace, and if you're frustrated, right on, dude. Stick with me, use your breath. (breathing in and out) It's a practice, it's a training. How do you handle discomfort? Can you be still and present in a moment? Can you access the power that you have within you with your breath? (breathing in and out) Upper arm bones are dropping down, hug lower ribs in, lift up, try to press away from your yoga mat, you got this for one more breath. If looking forward is hurting your neck, you can always look out, take one more breath, wherever you are, in and out. And slowly, don't drop it, stay in control, left elbow to the top of the left thigh and right fingertips go down to come up. Open, soft and easy, drop the right shoulder down, breathe deep here. And then notice if you're just collapsing into the top of your left thighbone, see if you can maintain awareness in the torso, all four sides. Breathe, try to press into your right pinky toe. 110%, full body experience. Experience your body, inhale. And then exhale, fingertips slowly drop down. We walk the hands all the back, we turn the left toes in, so now there's a sweet inner spiral here just like in Warrior, and right hand comes down and left fingertips sweep all the way up. You can take it all the way up to the back, or maybe up to the ceiling and then just notice if you're collapsing into your right hips, see if you can lift up, lift, lift, lift even more. (breathing in and out) Lots of awareness in the neck so we're not dropping, breathe deep. Awake in everything here, stick with me. (breathing in and out) And pull the left thumb back, take one more breath. Feel that deeper stretch, a longer stretch in all four sides of your torso. Relax there and then exhale, come back all the way, walk the fingertips towards the front edge, come to a nice, low lunge. Stay focused, stay calm, inhale, look forward and exhale back to all fours. Wonderful, from here we're gonna bring the two big toes together, press away from your yoga mat, so press up onto the toes, lift your knees, and we're gonna slowly come up to a little toe stand here. If you're able to put your heels on the ground, you can play there, otherwise, most people will keep the heels up and so I will too. And we're gonna squeeze the arches together, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and you might just keep your fingertips on the earth here, neck nice and long. Or you might slowly begin to bring one hand up to the top of the thigh and then the next. And to stay here, we'll squeeze the feet together, draw the navel in and up, and you're almost gonna wanna think of it as if you're lifting your hips up off your heels, rather than sinking in. So imagine a little piece of paper sliding between your bum and your heels. And you can bring the hands together at the heart here or again, keep the fingertips on the ground. And then there's no time like the present, try to find a stillness practice, stillness here. Maybe today's a great day to thoughtfully press the palms together, bring the elbows left to right, lengthen tailbone down. Breathe, hold on to your focus here, just be. Don't give up, if you need to make adjustments, yes. (breathing in and out) Take one more breath and then exhale, release, fingertips come to the mat, we come to a seat, send the legs out long. Heels as wide as your yoga mat, and then if you need to shake the feet out here a little bit here, please do. Fabulous, inhale, reach for the sky, press into your heels, exhale, take your fingertips all the way forward to the front edge of your mat. Slowly rolling it up, inhale, reach for the sky, exhale, fingertips to the front edge of the mat. Inhale, roll it up, last time. Exhale (breathing out). Inhale, roll all the way up and we'll interlace the fingertips, walk the heels together, together. Index finger pointing forward, you're gonna roll down super slow, articulating through the spine, nice and slow, okay, and there will be that breaking point, but stay focused, see how long you can hold. So scooping the tailbone, maybe pointing the toes for a little counterbalance. Firm through the legs, as slow as you can go, nice and slow, all the way down, take your time. Upper arm bones drop down, elbow creases toward the sky, slow and steady. (breathing in and out) Eventually, you'll release to the ground, bring the hands to your sides, walk the knees up toward the sky, feet on the earth. Cross right angle over the left. Thread the needle here, kick your left foot up into an imaginary wall and squeeze. Tuck the chin, slightly, breathe deep. Close your eyes. (breathing in and out) Extend the left foot up towards the sky, stay here for a couple breaths, that knee does not have to straighten, breathe deep, feel that shake, that tremble. Don't back off. So you wanna be mindful, of course, and careful, safe, but can you also meet your edge and stay there with your breath? When we work in this way you'll be so surprised, look, my legs are shaking, I've been here a million times and when we work in this way we really unlock such incredible things. I'll talk more about that in the email, I just want you to breathe. (breathing in and out) And then slowly unravel, release the legs and switch, left ankle crosses over the right. (breathing out) Thread the needle, kick your right foot into an imaginary wall. And breathe deep. Squeeze the legs up towards your heart, your chest. (breathing in and out) Extend the right leg up towards the sky and now be here. Breathing, spread the toes. (breathing in and out) Take one more big inhale here. And then exhale, slowly unravel and release. (clears throat) So we have two options here, we're gonna come to a Happy Baby or Stirrups Pose, which we've done together before. So we grab the outer edges of the feet, open knees wide and then kick one foot up and then kick the other foot up. And we're kicking the feet up towards the sky and then we're grounding down by pulling some weight into the arms. If this is not available to you, you can always do one at a time. The second variation or option today is to work in Plow Pose. And if Shoulder Stand is in your practice, and you wanna set yourself up mindfully and carefully, with support, I'm all about it, but let's just be really mindful here. So we wanna get into a place where we can stay and breathe there, not hold there, but be in the posture. So working in Happy Baby or Stirrup Pose, or Plow variation, we'll snuggle the shoulder blades underneath the heart space. Walk the heels up like we're coming into Bridge, and you can grab the outer edges of your mat or press your palms into the earth. And we'll use a little scooping up of the tailbone to lift the knees up and the toes over. And then walk the shoulder blades in even more. And just check this out, so you might bend your knees, bring the hands to the lower back here. You might bend your knees to start and just keep them even here, breathing deep. (breathing in and out) Breathe, breathe, breathe. Maybe begin to straighten the legs maybe begin to interlace the fingertips and send them down. Keep breathing, or if you feel like your breath is restricted, then come out of the posture. Careful not to turn the neck here. Draw your knuckles down and away, if they're extended. Breathe. Soft jaw. (breathing in and out) To come out, bring the hands to the earth or to the lower back. Bend the knees, bring them by your ears. Then just like you did when rolled down, slow and in control, the best you can, taking one little vertebrae at a time, sliding down, have some fun with it. And release. If we're catching up with our friends in the Stirrup posture, fabulous, let's all come all the way down now, extend the legs out long. Windshield wiper the toes side to side. And bring the feet together, arch to arch, walk the hands underneath your bum, snuggle the shoulder blades here. And you can squeeze the legs together, point the toes and just stay here if you like, or we'll press into the elbows. Again, nice and firm in the lower body, press in the elbows and begin to lift the chest up, lift up from your armpit, chest, and then maybe if Fish Pose as you practice, you draw the crown of the head to the earth. Breathe here. (breathing in and out) Then use an inhale to expand as we've been doing and then we control an exhale to draw the navel down, release the head and everyone release the legs, the arms, center yourself on the mat if it feels good. And come to Shavasana. Feel the blood flow in your legs and your arms, close your eyes, see feelingly. (breathing out) Maybe you part your lips here, soften the tongue in your mouth. And try to be receptive here, be still, try not to fidget. So we get really good at noticing our arms starting to tone and things starting to lift and thoughts starting to change and this is what it's all about. So here you have an opportunity to just really feel how the energy is moving through your body and if that's not happening for you, that's all good, it's just a practice of being present or receptive to that. But take a couple more breaths here together, so close your eyes and relax. Know that this time is time well spent. Sometimes, this time is more precious than crunches or Side Arm Planks. A time for you to really recalibrate, restore. To find peace and clarity from within. Honoring the practice of yoga asana and remembering or learning that it is a tool to bring us closer with our truth. Whether that's through meditation or just a quiet moment here in Shavasana. Thanks for doing the work, sharing your time and your energy with me. Continue to notice how you feel throughout the rest of the day or the rest of the evening. Peace. Namaste. (lively orchestral music)